Homosexual Discussion ForumBisexualitylemmein, you did not answer one of my questions, which was do you personally know any ex-gays?
There are many reasons a gay teen would want to change their sexual orientation, which some people can change and others can control. The question anyone seeking information on changing or controlling sexual behavior is why the individual wants to change. If societal acceptance is the reason I can guarantee you they will fail.
You have painted a bigoted and inaccurate picture of the majority of ex-gays and you have also appealed to a professional organization whose track record is dismal at best. Any professional organization whose executive committee forces a change in policy due to activist pressure lacks credibility. I have mentioned Dr. Satinover’s book “Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth” in a prior posting. I suggest you take the time to read it. I also suggest you read Joe Dallas’ “A Strong Delusion” before you continue your uneducated attack against people you don’t personally know. In the opening chapters of “A Strong Delusion” Joe lays out the issues involved in change. He does not paint a rosy pie-in-the sky instantaneous change. Change requires commitment, not just a simple desire to see “if” one can change. BTW, Joe Dallas is a married ex-gay psychologist.
In affect you are calling me a liar when you post that sexual orientation cannot be changed. I know that some men, women, and teens can and have successfully changed their orientation and/or their sexual behavior for reasons I doubt you can comprehend. As to reparative or conversion therapy, the term “conversion” is false. We cannot “convert” anyone who does not want to be converted. However, we can help a person repair relationships that leads to healing.
One thing I have noticed during my 22-year odyssey as an ex-gay is that gays such as you seem to fear that change is possible and instead of admitting this fact you push false allegations that have yet to be proven concerning proper therapy and post lies about people who have changed. Reparative therapy is effective when the individual seeking therapy is committed to change and willing to take the time and make the effort.
What is interesting about both APA’s is they refuse to conduct real broad-based studies that include men, women, and teens who have changed their orientation without the availing themselves of the services of a psychologist or a psychiatrist. “Ego dystonic homosexuality” can be rooted in childhood trauma that includes physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Even if the study conducted by the University of Padua can be replicated and verified with further research, the conclusion reached by this study indicates: "We know we've only explained 20% of the pattern," says Camperio-Ciani. The remaining 80% could perhaps be due to formative sexual and social experiences during early life or even childhood, he speculates.
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=1295
Your uneducated opinions and the biased opinions of the APA’s are dooming millions of people to lives of misery, and are contributing to the teen suicide rate. As Dr. Jon Meyer notes (see Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 4th ed., eds. Kaplan & Sadock), "...this change reflected the point of view that homosexuality was to be considered a mental disorder only if it was subjectively disturbing to the individual. The decision of the APA Board...took place in the context of new sociological data, biological inferences, and de-emphasis of psychoanalytic observations. It also took place in an atmosphere of confrontation. Beginning in 1970, various gay activist groups demonstrated....at APA meetings. At issue was the conceptualization of homosexuality as an illness..."
The DSM-III committee and subcommittee charged with drafting the new manual (1976-78) settled on the diagnosis of ego-dystonic homosexuality, which, according to Meyer, "...represented a compromise between those individuals whose clinical experience, interpretation of the data, and, perhaps, biases, led them to the conviction that homosexuality was a normal variant of sexual expression..." By the time DSM-III-R (revised version of DSM-III) came out in 1987, the tide had shifted again. The category of ego-dystonic homosexuality was eliminated. As DSM-III-R itself stated, "...the diagnosis...has rarely been used clinically, and there have been only a few articles in the scientific literature that use the concept..."
However, one could use the category of sexual disorder not otherwise specified to include cases that previously would have been called ego-dystonic homosexuality. Our present DSM-IV does not include homosexuality per se as a disorder, but still permits the diagnosis of "Sexual Disorder Not Otherwise Specified" for someone with "...persistent and marked distress about sexual orientation".
http://www.mhsource.com/expert/exp1052101c.html
People can change.
And BTW, if you have really read all that I have posted I agree that homosexuality is not pathological. I also agree that homosexuality is not an illness, however it is a behavior that can be modified, controlled, and even changed totally to a complete heterosexual orientation.
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